Lucy of the Broken States

Chapter One

The horse ambled its way into town, past the few wooden buildings that housed a grocery store, a scavenger store, a restaurant, and the sheriff’s office. Lucy sat atop Lance and gave him very little direction. Meridune was home and, after riding Lance for three years, the horse seemed to know when they were here. It surprised Lucy that he knew where to go, as many towns in the Broken States looked the same. She wondered if the town smelled different to Lance, but thought it might also be that she relaxed as soon as she saw the town limits sign.

Lucy could move Lance along a little faster, but it was too hot to hurry, and they were both dehydrated. It was a long ride from one town to the other out here, and the sun beat down hard during the summer. From the way the road looked, it had been a while since the last rain. They kicked up a small cloud of dust as they moseyed along. Lance neighed as he went right for the space in front of the saloon. Once he was in front of the post, his nose dipped to the trough, and she dismounted.

“Lucy!”

The voice was followed by the sound of small feet pounding on wooden steps inside the saloon. The young girl’s voice carried over the din from the poker tables and music from the standing piano. Someone was pounding away on the keys, their voice almost hitting the right notes. Dean and Meena, twins, loved to play piano and were good at it, but neither could sing. Lucy smirked at the sound as she turned toward the doors of the saloon. She waited until Gracie was outside, then opened her arms wide. The young girl, her blond braids streaming out behind her, ran at full speed, jumped off the boardwalk and into Lucy’s arms.

“You’re back!”

“Hey sugarplum. Did you miss me?”

“Lots and lots! You’ve been gone forever!”

“I told you I would be. I had a job to do.” She gave the girl an extra squeeze, then set her down. “Where’s your momma, sugarplum?”

“In bed. She’s not feeling well.”

Lucy frowned. “Well, I’m sorry to hear that.” She saw Irene and nodded in greeting before turning back to Gracie. “Go say hello for me, would you?”

“Ok!” The six-year-old ran off with as much enthusiasm as when she ran down the stairs.

Lucy looked toward the saloon as five other people came out. She recognized most of the faces, but frowned when she saw what each was wearing. Usually, Irene’s Escorts wore shorts or skirts with either half shirts or bras. Sometimes, when the weather was in the 100s, some went with bikini bottoms and were topless. Today, they all wore rather strange clothing.

Irene, the saloon owner and Madam, wore a green dress with a thick, twisted gold rope as a belt. The belt ended in larger than seemed necessary tassels. They looked large enough to grab on to and pull. The dress blossomed out from her waist, fell to the floor, and was embellished with thinner twisted gold rope on most of the hem.

Lucy looked down the line at the other four people who stood at the railing. Next to Irene was a tall man she hadn’t met before, in tight white pants, a frilly white shirt, and a purple velvet coat with tails that hung to the back of his knees. His short hair was shaved almost to his scalp, and there was a curious look in his dark eyes. He looked good, but he also looked completely overdressed.

Next was another person she didn’t recognize. They had a nice smile, shoulder length hair, thick black eyeliner around their blue eyes, and a five o’clock shadow. They were wearing what could either be a dress or coat that was red and yellow and green and brown, and . . . She tore her eyes away from the technicolor nightmare, and her gaze fell upon Alice’s smiling green eyes.

Lucy lifted her light brown leather hat off her head, revealing the red bandana that hid her thick dark hair. Alice wore a gold dress that hugged her body and stopped at her knees. The slim straps showed off her shoulders, which her red hair brushed. Beads hung from the hem of the dress and moved as Alice did. Lucy whistled in appreciation.

“Howdy.”

“Howdy yourself.” Alice’s voice was soft and inviting.

Lucy smiled as she twiddled with the brim of her hat and looked Alice in her clear green eyes again. “It’s been a while.”

“Need a place to lay your head?”

“I would appreciate that.”

The women stared at each other for a moment before Irene broke the silence. “For now, you’re needed upstairs, Alice. Moris wants the pleasure.”

“I’m sure he does,” Lucy said loudly enough for the Escorts to hear, but not loudly enough for her voice to carry inside.

Irene gave her a look. “You know what you can do with that attitude, Lucy.”

She put her hat back on her head and turned to Lance. “Yes, ma’am.” She gave Alice one last soft look before the woman turned and went back inside.

“The rest of you, go find a lap to sit on. Lucy’ll be around for you to talk to later.”

This was met with a chorus of grumbles along with a few voices saying, “Bye, Lucy!”

Lucy’s thick, dry lips turned up in a grin even as her attention shifted to Lance. Unbuckling his saddle bag, she let it fall to the ground as the sound of footsteps came closer. Irene appeared to her right, near Lance’s backside.

The saloon owner leaned down and picked up the saddle bag. “You don’t know what’s going on with the train, do you? Stella heard it was going to be late.”

Lucy turned toward Irene. “It’ll only be late by a couple days. A factory Under caught fire. It caused one of the vents to the Above to blow up. There was enough heat released that the area got hit with a few meteorites. The fire and Bombardment stopped the factory for a few days while the miners rerouted the vent. The Regulators confirmed the heat was dissipating correctly.”

“Do you know what the factory was making?”

Lucy paused, looked at the sky as she tried to remember, then shook her head. “Nope. I don’t think it’s something we use here. It’s something they use in the mines out west, so they had to delay the train until it was fixed.”

Irene nodded. “That’s good to hear. We were getting worried. All the rumors.”

“There’s always rumors, Irene. You don’t usually care about all that.”

Irene sighed and looked toward her saloon. “There’s been a bit of an upheaval. Grace got the Red Death.”

Lucy looked shocked. “You’re kidding.”

Irene scrutinized Lucy. “You weren’t with her last time you were here, were you?”

She shook her head. “No, but Gracie and I spent a lot of time together. Does she have it?”

“She tested negative. As soon as Grace realized she had it, she taught her daughter not to get close. It’s been hard for them both.”

Lucy nodded. “All right. But why are you so keen on the train? Are there any meds on it?”

“No, but . . .” She hesitated, then after a moment, plunged ahead. “Grace wants to talk to you. She said something about the train but wouldn’t tell me more.”

Lucy frowned.

“You can be in her room. She knows not to touch anyone.”

“Wait, she can’t work, can she?”

“No.” Irene’s expression revealed nothing. “They don’t have anywhere else to go. We’ve all been pitching in to help with her care and food. She had a little saved up.”

“Her momma won’t take her?”

Irene shook her head. “Grace hasn’t dared tell her. She’s afraid her mother will take Gracie once and for all.”

Lucy shook her head. “That woman . . .” She shook her head again, then frowned a little. “Grace will need a lot of care before she dies.”

“I know.”

Lucy’s eyes narrowed. “What’s she got on you?”

Irene’s mouth dropped open in shock. Then her eyes opened wide in surprise. “Oh, you little . . .”

Lucy burst out laughing. “Sorry, Irene. I couldn’t help it.”

“You’re in a tear today.”

“I like being here. It’s home.”

Irene nodded. “I get that. Come on, get the rest of your stuff. I’ll prepare a bath for you.”

Lucy grinned and turned to take care of Lance.

*****

Half an hour later, Lucy soaked in a tub of hot water in Irene’s room. It was the woman’s private room, no clients allowed. The tub was porcelain, with claw feet, and weighed so much it had to be on the ground floor. Irene had gladly given up her room on the top floor to have this installed. It was big enough that with her back against the tub wall, Lucy’s feet just touched the other side. It was heaven. A lot of places had running water and bathtubs, but Lucy wasn’t as friendly with the people of other towns. She wanted one home, and Meridune was it.

Lucy grew up in an orphanage, in the Under, but when she started traveling at the age of fourteen, Meridune, Irene in particular, took her in. The Hired Hand she was following for her Apprenticeship wasn’t treating her well and was barely teaching her anything. Irene noticed, took her away from Darrell, and set her up with Cecil, who showed her the ropes of being a Hired Hand. He taught her many things, from filling out the right paperwork to learning how to shoot a gun.

A small sigh escaped her. She missed Cecil, but all roads led to death, eventually. A knock on the door roused her from her thoughts. “Go away!”

The door opened anyway. “This is my room! My saloon. You don’t tell me to go away.”

Lucy laughed at Irene’s irritation. “I knew you’d come in. No one else would have.”

Irene nodded as she came in and closed the door. “I suppose that’s true. General store had your hair products last month. I wasn’t sure when you’d be home, so I bought a couple bottles for you. Want me to braid your hair?”

Lucy’s voice was full of gratitude. “That would be appreciated. Thank you.”

Irene moved a wooden chair to behind Lucy’s head. The chair creaked as Irene sat down.

“You want the orange scented or non-scented?”

“Orange, please!”

As Irene worked her hair, she and Lucy continued to talk.

“If you want Alice’s company tonight, she’s ready for you. Middleton ran his monthly tests; all my Escorts are clean.”

Lucy’s voice sounded intrigued. “You only use ‘Escorts’ when you have a mix. Otherwise, you just say women. When I was here last, you only had women. I saw the new people out there earlier but wasn’t sure if they were Escorts or servers.”

“Yep. Women, men, and everything in between. Jeremy is homosexual, and Linus is non-binary, bisexual. They might be interested in you.”

Lucy sighed as Irene continued to work on her hair. She could take care of it herself, and usually did, but it was a treat to have someone else braid it. “Were both of them outside when I showed up?”

“Jeremy had the purple coat on, and Linus had the very colorful coat.”

Lucy frowned. “Yeah, where did you all get those clothes? That’s not usually what you wear. And your dress is nice, but it just looks off for some reason.”

Irene stopped working on Lucy’s hair as she laughed. “It’s supposed to. Scavenger came through, oh about two months ago now. They found a practically untouched theater out in the middle of the old farmlands, near the lakes. No one had found the costume department, and the clothes were in cedar chests. Most of the costumes didn’t have identifying tags on them, but we all went nuts. We probably spent more on them than we should have.”

“What’s yours from?”

“It’s from . . . It’s from a book that I can’t remember the name of. I never really liked the title, but it was set in the slave era, from Way Before. At one point the main character . . . shoot, you know how I am with books. I love ’em but can’t remember the characters in them. Anyway, the main character, it’s after the war, and she has to impress someone, but all her clothes have been taken or destroyed, so she gets her former enslaved servant to make her a dress out of drapes!”

Lucy burst out laughing. “That’s ridiculous!”

“It is pretty silly, but when I realized this was from that scene, I had to wear it!”

Lucy continued to laugh as she shook her head. “Some people think up the oddest things.”

“I wish I had enough of an imagination to create a book.” She placed her hands on Lucy’s hair again. “I’m doing four thick braids, by the way.”

“That works. Thank you. And you don’t need an imagination with the stuff that happens here!”

This time they both laughed. “I suppose that’s true.” There was a pause as she worked Lucy’s hair. “Did you want me to introduce you to anyone new?”

“Though I do like variety, I want to be with Alice right now.”

Irene tsked. “I’ve never understood your relationship with her. I know she doesn’t let you pay.”

Lucy shrugged. “I please her, she pleases me. I don’t know if it can be more than that. I like to travel; she doesn’t.”

“I suppose if it works for you both.”

“It does. When it doesn’t, we’ll talk further.” Lucy sighed again as Irene tied off a braid. “Now, other than helping me with my hair, why are you really bothering me?”

Irene snorted. “It’s my room. You’re bothering me.”

Lucy snickered. She could almost hear Irene rolling her eyes.

“I came to let you know that Grace is asleep already, but Gracie is waiting for you in the dining room. She has some pictures she drew for you.”

“I love that kid.”

“She’s a sweetie.”

They were silent for a while as Irene tied off another braid, then Lucy asked a hard question. “What’s going to happen to her?”

“Grace’s illness is progressing slowly. That means she’ll probably be around for another year. Gracie’ll be old enough to Apprentice somewhere by then.”

“She’ll be seven. That’s not old enough.” There was disdain in her voice.

“Well, not for here, but she doesn’t want to Apprentice for me. There are other professions that take them at seven. We’ll make sure she gets a good Teacher.”

“And if she wants to Apprentice somewhere that doesn’t take her ’til she’s ten or thirteen?”

“She can waitress in the saloon. She’ll be off limits to the clients.”

Lucy shook her head carefully. “She deserves to be in school until she’s ready to take an Apprenticeship.”

“Grace saved up some, but she doesn’t have that kind of money.”

When Lucy realized Irene had finished another braid, she pulled away to turn and look Irene in the eyes. “I do. I’ll give you money to make sure Gracie can go to school until she’s ready to Apprentice somewhere.”

“And if she decides to Apprentice when she’s seven?”

Lucy continued to hold Irene’s gaze. “Then you make sure she gets that money.”

Irene nodded. “Of course.”

“Thank you.” She leaned back against the tub wall again. “You have any idea who gave Grace the Red Death?”

“She has some idea, but I don’t know. It wasn’t a Townie. We’re all clear.”

“All right. I guess I can ask her myself tomorrow.”

“Yep.”

Lucy felt Irene tie off the last braid.

“Your hair’s all set. I’m leaving the oils on the floor right here. Don’t forget to grab them before you go. You can pay me back later.”

Lucy reached up a hand to touch the four thick braids. “Thank you, again. It’s nice to have someone else do it.”

“You’re welcome.” She sighed heavily and stood from her chair. “I’m going back out for a bit. Take your time, but don’t take too long. Gracie is waiting and your dinner’s just about ready.”

“What’d you order me?”

“Steak, potatoes, and grilled prickly pear. There’s cake for dessert.”

Lucy made an appreciative noise. “You know what I like!”

“Yep. Just remember it’s out there, all right?”

“Yes ma’am!”

Irene opened the door. “It’s nice to have you home.”

“It’s nice to be home,” Lucy said with a smile in her voice.

With that, Irene left and closed the door behind her.